The invention relates to splice adaptors used in the cable television or telecommunications industry.
Various electronic equipment are utilized in the television and telecommunication transmission systems. When two or more pieces of equipment are joined together, a splice is created. Generally, the splice should be enclosed, for protection from the environment. For example, if the closure is an aerial closure, used with aerially suspended equipment, protection against damaging interference from weather elements, and so forth may be necessary or desired.
The devices which are adapted for coupling equipment together are referred to as splice adaptors. Such devices are conventionally configured to physically and electronically couple equipment to one another without the use of cable and the associated connectors. The splice adaptors can include an elongate, typically cylindrical, casing having first and second coupling ports. It is generally desirable that seals be provided at the coupling ports in order to ensure an environmental seal for the adaptor.
Unfortunately, conventional male splice adaptors, which typically include a center pin extending through opposite ports of a housing, fail to provide weather-tight environmental seals which prevent moisture from entering the adaptor housing and possibly flowing through to the attached equipment. Under certain conditions, the moisture within an adaptor housing turns into a vapor, after which pressure builds within the housing, thus forcing a migration of the moisture through the housing and into the attached equipment.
Conventional male splice adaptors do not provide for adequate weather-tight sealing at the coupling ports. Usually the male adaptors include o-rings used at the coupling ports to seal provide a seal from the outside environment. However, this type of seal ignores the need to seal the housing within the coupling port. The o-rings alone tend to be ineffective due to the equipment on either side of the adaptor needing maintenance or repair. In these situations, the equipment covers are opened and closed possibly causing damage to the weather seals associated with the equipment housings. Accordingly, if moisture invades the interior of the equipment housing, it inevitably leads to the moisture migration problems discussed above.
At this point only spacing disks within the coupling port, which are primarily used for supporting the connecting pin within the adaptor housing, are the only deterrent to moisture migration along the adaptor pin. However, the spacing disks provide little or no weather-proof sealing.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a male splice adaptor with a weather-tight seal provided at each coupling port, thus providing a longitudinal seal along the length of the adaptor pin.